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I wish I could have seen those catches. I don't have cable so did not see the game and it was not on radio here either. I went through the radio dials. Here is an interesting article in the SBT. It basically said that the team had little emotion most games (We knew that.) However, this was the first time Charlie actually gave an emotional locker room speech at halftime. To me, it is amazing that he has not done this before. |
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Awesome. What a great line from Weis. Tate could have had another TD but was underthrown. This team is going to be positively sick on offense. |
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the future is so bright, be patient |
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^ God grant me patience but I want it right NOW!!! |
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at least we have some form of momentum and UCLA is recently very fickle under Dorrell. Warning Kool-Aid moment: we beat UCLA and upset BC and become bowl eligible. One can dream. |
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That kind of hurts the "Sharpley ran the offense better" theory. Sounds like his two biggest plays were pre-designed Hail Marys with one player trying to outrun the single coverage. |
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Nice point, Michael. |
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Michael, that's a good point. I'll go with the glass-half-full view at this point, though. Many successful CFB teams are built around a single outstanding player. Even if the other team knows what is coming, they still can't stop it. Could Tate be this kind of player? Maybe. But between this game and his kick returns, the signs are positive. |
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I agree too. I really didn't understand why the ESPN announcers became so pro-Sharpley by the end of the game. To quote: "It would be a terrible injustice if Sharpley didn't start next week." Honestly, Clausen played just as well, completed more passes, and only had fewer yards because Sharpley completed two Hail Mary's. |
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Weis always manages to give himself credit is some way or another. |
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'Hi', |
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if you watched weis' press conference you would know that he was being sarcastic |
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i think evan will be starting next week |
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Austin, |
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If Tate and Kamara don't start next week I doubt that Charlie Weis will win a national championship. If he doesn't put the best eleven on the field than he isn't what he is advertised himself to be. I loved the fact that we finally ran a few slants to Kamara. Everyone knew it was coming and they were unable to stop it. This team finally found an offensive groove, and we actually have made progress the last few weeks. I still think we will start 0-8, but if we continue to improve we should not lose many/if any recruits. |
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Maybe Coach should know his personnel a bit better. Like, "Hey, you have an incredibly fast guy with magnificent hands on your team... throw it to him." How many games do they need to play to figure that out. I'm very impressed with Weis the recruiter but Weis the coach still leaves a lot to be desired. |
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Weis seems to know his personnel just fine... he knows that about the only thing Tate's good for right now is running real fast and taking the ball away from someone, and that's a one-trick pony (albeit one heck of a trick). |
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I've been saying all along that Clausen isn't ready and Sharpley deserves to play, as do Tate and Kamara. Why is Charlie afraid of running a QB sneak with Clausen? Did anyone else notice Clausen tugging on OC to get back in the game when Sharpley was leading a drive that stalled when Clausen was put back in on 4th and 1. Clausen took forever, turning the wrong way, to get the ball to running back. Whatever hole was there collapsed. The team was energized with Sharpley and the new receivers. Go Irish! |
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I think Sharpley showed better decision making and seemed to know the playbook better. Clausen hung onto the ball too long and simply wasn't progressing through his options--very freshman mistake. The Tate catches were spectacular, but those Kamara slants and other 3 step drop plays showed to me that I think we need to start Sharpley next week--Let Jimmy get completely, 100% healthy, and let him get some college experience under his belt before we throw him to the wolves. |
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Sean - that's the design of the play, to turn the "Wrong" way first. Do better. |
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One game I would love to see us put the running game from the MSU game with the passing game from Purdue. I agree,Tate may not be ready to be an everydown receiver. He was a RB in HS, but he can be a game breaker. I would love to see some delayed middle screens to him, too. The true mark of an offensive line is the ability to consistently pick up one yard. We have not made it there yet. If we can land Michael Floyd then we will have an awesome receiving corps for a few years. As for Sharpley, he did a good job, but he doesnt go through his progression very well. He locked on to Carlson and had time to see West open at the 10. Clausen turning the wrong way, if that was the case, mistakes happen, especially at QB, even seasoned veterans turn the wrong way at times. That is no reason to not start him, he put a helluva lick on that guy on the int and I think the kid is a lot tougher than we figured him to be given his background. |
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On that play, he turned the right way, its the design of the play, just a little misdirection. Coach Weis likes to run that kind of play. |
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The offense is coming from Freshman and Sophomores that Charlie recruited and we outgained Purdue in yards. Weis has made improvemenst this year but its hard to build experience and talent now when we are void of senior leadership and a lack of an offensive line. The sun is rising and we'll be back in the top-15 next year. |
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Let's not also forget that Kamara dropped a sure TD in the end zone against Michigan. These guys are good.. but they still have a ways to go in their development. |
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Tate made great catch on a fly pattern against Penn State but it was nullified by a holding call. I'm sure we would have seen more of Tate if the O-line gave the QB's more time to throw. My guess is that Weis designs a few more sets utilizing the Tate - Kamara tandem. Anybody have an update on Grimes? He made yet another nice grab. |
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Too bad we didn't get Rejus Benn. We could really be tearing up with the passing game with these receivers and him. He is doing great for the Illini. |
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FYI, running back recruit Carlton Thomas committed to Georgia today. |
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Any update on the recruits we've gotten verbals from? A couple of weeks ago we had a "oh, they're all holding strong" round of quotes, but that was 2 losses ago. |
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The offensive line is the alpha and omega of every single problem this team has. I am very encouraged by our young skill guys, but equally as disappointed in the continually gutless O line play. The O line generally sets the tone for any football team, and although CW has brought in lots of highly rated frosh and soph depth, I remain astounded at their lack of physicality. I have been beating the Latina-Mendoza horse to death, but I remain adamant that those two coaches need to be relieved of their duties sooner than later. |
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Some perspective: |
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The offensive line doesn't seem to be getting any better. Well, if they designed a play called "Aldridge for minus two yards" then they have got that one down to a science. |
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I'm very small and only a three star on Rivals. No big loss. |
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Lush, good point about Penn State. The other teams you listed had a bad week, which is still a lot better than a horrific five weeks. Regarding your first point, I think you're exactly right that there are many reasons why the roster isn't as strong as it needs to be. |
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In the immortal words of Lou Brown, the Indians manager from Major League,"It's startin' to come together Pepper, its startin' to come together!". We saw some bad, some good and even some great. It will come together soon and this year for sure. |
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Clausen might be a phoney. |
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Judge60: |
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Everyone here should read this linked article. |
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Clausen clearly has the stronger arm, but Sharpley is a good enough passer to win if some of the other elements are in place. It seems like Sharpley makes better and faster decisions. I think we would do a little better this year with Sharpley at QB; if Clausen plays, I would like at that decision as CW trying to accelerate his learning process by giving him the game time. |
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Okay, so, if Notre Dame can run the table the rest of this year... |
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Sharpley doesnt make better decisions. A three step drop on a slant pattern,is not a read. Clausen has a quicker release. I don't know how you can call Clausen a phony. He actually reads defenses better than Sharpley. Clausen is getting better each week, I like Sharpley but he isnt the QB that Clausen is, although he may have quicker feet. There are no decisions to make when you are throwing a slant or a go route. He didnt read the int he threw to Carlson. |
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I'm no expert, but the offense looked crisper with Sharpley in. And I'm not just talking about the two long passes to Tate. He got rid of the ball quickly and decisively. I remember a sequence in the third quarter (I think) where Clausen was out for a couple plays after being completely ineffective. Sharpley came in and made a couple of quick, decisive passes to get into 4th and short. Clausen comes in for the 4th down play and misfires, not close. I couldn't believe that he was even on the field. Maybe Clausen is the better QB (and I certainly think he is in the long-term), but the offense was better with Sharpley, mostly because the rest of the team seemed to believe in him. |
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Brian, you stated, "We saw some bad, some good and even some great." You might want to add "atrocius" for our special teams play. As someone commented on the Game Day board, "It almost makes me long for the days of the swinging gate." These are words I hoped to never hear again in my life time. |
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FROM SI.COM, REGARDING PRESEASON STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Why they're No. 13: The start of Notre Dame's schedule couldn't be much tougher. The end couldn't be much easier. The Irish face eight bowl teams in their first nine games and go on the road for four of their first six. Then they finish up with three teams (Air Force, Duke and Stanford) that combined to win five games last year. If Air Force becomes a .500 team and Stanford shows marked improvement in its first season under Jim Harbaugh, this schedule could rank among the nation's five toughest by the end of the year. The schedule is set up horribly for a team as inexperienced as this year's Notre Dame squad. The Irish would benefit from playing poor teams at the start of the season as their first-year starters get the hang of big-time college football. They instead will get thrown into the fire by traveling to Penn State and Michigan the first three weeks of the season. |
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All the positive, glass full comments here are heartening, but I can't stamp out of my mind that we are now 0-5, and not far from 0-8 and who knows after that. the O-line doesn't explain that, true freshman doesn't explain that, and the lack of inspring half time speeches doesn't explain that, and no, neither does weak recruiting by another coach. The only thing that does is a bad system. A very bad system that isn't working and isn't going to start working suddenly -- or even gradually -- with new players. The system has to go. |
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I was too hungover to watch the first half on saturday, so could someone explain why the only RB I saw in the 2nd half was Junior Jabbie? |
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Bob Riley, |
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Anyone that is dancing on and off the bandwagon this year needs to get a grip on reality. Notre Dame is R-E-B-U-I-L-D-I-N-G. It is ridiculous to throw Charlie under the bus for having a young, unexperienced team (Not to mention, probably one of the top 5 most talented, young teams). Do you realize that these kids were attending prom 5 months ago? They just left their parents houses and you expect them to dominate college football players their freshman year? Are you serious? Charlie Weis holds the key to a national championship in the future. Is there another coach you think could do a better job with what Charlie inherited? Give him a nd these kids a break. Probably doesnt do much to hear their own fans saying how the whole team is a fraud. |
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How about 6 first downs given to Purdue because of penalties. What really bugs me are the personal fouls - they show a lack of discipline (and reflect poorly on the coach, I know Charlie has to be ready to pop a blood vessel). |
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Sharpley did look pretty good out there against Purdue, I have to admit. But no way should he start Saturday, unless Clausen isn't healthy. This is the only time Sharpley has played as well as he did; he's a back-up for a reason. Plus everyone seems to have forgotten that Clausen's stats were actually better than Sharpley's, aside from the huge completions that Sharpley made once Tate got some significant playing time (mostly after Grimes went out). |
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I read somewhere that USC and others are actively recruiting Omar Hunter and probably our other recruits. |
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Some shrewd poster last week said put it up and let the receiver make a play(just kidding because it was me) However, there are simple truths in statements like that. If you have the better athlete and its on offence, you have the advantage. There is also the second possibility of the pass interference as we have so keenly experienced from the negative side. |
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Adam: Re: Freshmen. How is it that UF is starting more soph's and freshmen, and actually competeing, then ? |
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Doug - The worst decision of the game was Clausen simply throwing it up for grabs in the first half -- instead of taking the sack or throwing it out of bounds, he threw off balance and weakly into an area where there were far more defenders than receivers. You can't even tell who his intended target was. |
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Clausen was the "consensus" first pick in last year's recruiting class. That means...everyone - and I mean everyone - picked him as the best high school player (not just QB). He's a true freshman passing QB...it would be a lot easier if he was a running QB like our own Jones or Tebow...but, thank god, he's not and it will take more than 5 games to start to produce. |
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Rays15, I understand that, but Sharpley didnt read the safety dropping into coverage leaving a man open at the 10. Clausen made a mistake, Sharpley missed a read. As for pocket presence, Sharpley hardly threw from the pocket. The Go route was a one man all or nothing route, the slant is a three step drop and throw to an area, the pass to Parris was a skinny post which is a deeper slant. When you read a coverage you have more than one receiver or two going into a pass route, usually you drop 5 to seven steps and that is where your progression starts, Clausen has a much quicker release than Sharpley and who is to say that if Clausen wasnt in the game he wouldnt have made the same throws and even picked up the safety and hit West at the 10 for probably another TD. The fade is also a one man route, all or nothing. I am not taking anything away from Evan, but look at the passes and tell me Clausen couldnt have made the same passes. I dont know why most of you are anti-Clausen, some even suggesting that Crist will come in and be the savior next year. We will be back in the same situation, it takes a little time to read a college defense, they are a lot more sophisticated than high school. That is why most of your rookie QBs dont start right away or if they do they dont have great seasons. They have to learn to read a professional defense, with disguised coverages and quicker athletes. JC is the QB that we need. Evan is a good backup. |
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Scalz1, you will find out how well Florida competes at the end of the year. The youth will catch up to them. I believe they play LSU this week. |
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